In burner devices for gas turbines high temperatures are present caused by the combustion of fuel. In order to reduce emissions, in particular NOx emissions, the burned fuel mixture becomes in modern gas turbines leaner and leaner. However, leaner fuel mixture causes higher flame temperatures than richer fuel mixtures.
Furthermore, it is an aim to burn hydrogen-rich fuel in order to increase the efficiency of the gas turbine, for example. However, when burning hydrogen-rich fuel, there is a high risk of the flame burning backwards into the burner system. Moreover, flame temperatures of hydrogen rich gases are considerably higher than the traditional fuels, such as fuel on a crude oil basis.
Hydrogen rich fuel has to be mixed with other combustion gases containing oxygen, such as air or pure oxygen, in order to achieve an efficient combustion. However, mixing the hydrogen rich fuel and the oxygen-containing combustion gases is difficult to control.